Crafting in October!

This has been a busy month, but fun! The Edmond Home Educators group held a craft fair for kids to venture out and sell things they've made. So some friends I encouraged our kids to get out there and become informed of how free enterprise works.  For the last month we've had crafting parties that were held well into the night with lots of laughter, creativity and cookies! The turnout was so-so, but they did sell some of their items and had a blast! As seen below, Emmaly and Kyla made bags, hair bows  hair bands, coasters and sugar scrub. We had a lot of people commenting that we must have been busy, but in reality we knew about this sell over a month ago and instead of working at the last minute, the girls produced each craft one by one.

Aaron and Joel made the cutest and softest homemade pillowcases. They were little troopers and did very well!

You must check out the cornucopias Emmaly and I made. Courtesy of Pinterest!

Besides crafting, Emmaly and I took a day to visit the Parkhurst Pumpkin Patch located in Arcadia. Afterwards we dined and took in a movie! It was a cool, slightly misty day with lots of cloud coverage. Just how I love the fall!

The cow snuggled us like a dog! It was so sweet!

She wasn't too sure about having her back to the pig! LOL!

What a beautiful month it has been with God's blessings surrounding us.

Quilting for Necessity, Quilting for Fun

"She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." Proverbs 31:13

The butterfly quilt was sewn in 1940. My grandma had just gone off to college in Lawton and worked on this quilt a little at a time with her mother back home in Granite. One thing I love about this quilt is the fabric. You can see a shift in taste of print from the 1930's & 1940's until......well....now! I love the fact that it is yellow. Very inviting and happy! My grandma was jubilant to see my interest in quilting. I loved asking her about the good ole' days just to see the differences between what we experienced at the same ages."You're quilting for fun", she quoted "We quilted out of necessity." 

It wasn't until after her death that I finally began to learn how to quilt with a machine. 

Though this isn't the group (obviously) that taught me how to quilt, I can see why they seem to be having a great time. I'm guessing this quilt was being made for someone. Sometimes, women had large quilting bees to provide a heirloom for an upcoming bride, or expecting mother, or a home-bound widow. I heard it best last year when someone in my Sunday school class mentioned that most women have lost the ability to create with their hands. That comment struck me in the heart, she was right. 

So I picked up 8 months ago where I wanted to start in the first place and finished my first quilt, and then my next, then the next and so on. I'm happy to say I've recently finished my 8th quilt and am half way finished with my 9th.  Some of these quilts were inspired by others, some I actually came up with on my own. I've lain in bed at night thinking of great color sequences. I'm not obsessed, not yet at least. But I think I've found the ability to create with my hands. 

These are the quilts I've finished!

The one that started it all......

My daughter and I made this one for her "Charlotte's Web County Fair."

Surprise Mother's Day gift to my momma. Even though this is American inspired, the French flag kept popping up in my head as I made this.

Once I saw the inspiration for this, I told myself " If you can do this, you can do anything!" This turned out to be a gift to our Japanese hosts.